OHTA.ca

Hello everyone! I was given a ticket for using a hand-held communication device while driving. It was 3 am, I was at a stop light and the cop saw me with the my phone in my hand. I told him i was just checking the time on it. I received the notes a few weeks ago ill copy them down below. Any help is appreciated although i believe there's no hope for me. The cop recorded me saying what phone i had , and that i did'nt have a mount or bluetooth earpiece. Hers's the notes:

clear cold dry

obs vehicle sb on blackcreek drive at stoplight

PC driving vehicle

look over to driver in vehicle

obs bright screen, black device above dash through passenger side window. there was tint on the window

obs male hitting the screen of the device

male looks at pc and rolls down the window

advise to male he cannot text while driving

male advising he is checking the time on his phone

advise will be stopping male

vehicle stopped

appoach vehicle single occupant

advise of stop

obs black device on passenger side seat

device samsung galaxy phone

issue pot

If you were touching your phone, you're toast...

Hey @ FyreStorm what if the phone was in a wallet case?

The phone has to be mounted, ie attached to the vehicle. A case doesn't make any difference.

If it was secured by just a magnet would that count? But i still told him i didnt have a mount. I didnt think that counted as a mount plus i had allready got the ticket when he asked me that. And it was secured by the magnet while in the case and the case was open. The notes didnt mention anything of the case.

fresh wrote: ↑Mon May 14, 2018 2:48 amI was at a stop light and the cop saw me with the my phone in my hand.

Your story is all over the place. Was the phone in your hand or was it mounted?

I guess i should have explained it in more detail than i did, but before i write a whole paragraph id just like to know if we are allowed to touch the phone if it IS on a mount or secured. Thats the part im confused about because i see alot of people touching their phones on a mount when im driving. If not thers no point in getting into details.

Exemptions, etc., are governed by O. Reg. 366/09. Subsection 14(1) of that Regulation states:

Exemption for Pressing Buttons 14. (1) A person may drive a motor vehicle on a highway while pressing a button on a hand-held wireless communication device to make, answer or end a cell phone call or to transmit or receive voice communication on a two-way radio if the device is placed securely in or mounted to the motor vehicle so that it does not move while the vehicle is in motion and the driver can see it at a quick glance and easily reach it without adjusting his or her driving position.

Note that the Regulation says "a button" not "a button or buttons" or "one or more buttons." That would suggest a driver could hit a speed dial button, the send call or end call button, but could not, for example, dial a phone number.

As long as the device is securely mounted, the regulation allows you to touch the screen in order to make or end a call.

The problem is that the police who can be a car-lengths away, looking through your tinted windows can not discern what exactly is happening on your screen.

You can always argue in court, that you touched the screen to cancel an incoming call. Your evidence will be weighted a lot higher, from an arms-length away versus someone peaking through a tinted window in the middle of the night.

I highly doubt the prosecution would even proceed to trial, if the officer's notes had evidence that the device was securely mounted.

Their primary concern is for drivers who're physically holding the device in their hands.